INVASION USA

Illegals who commit minor crimes won't be deported

Target; Detainees convicted or charged with felony, 3 or more misdemeanor convictions

Published: 12/23/2012 at 1:04 AM

(Los Angeles Times) Illegal immigrants who are arrested in minor crimes will no longer be targeted for deportation, the Obama administration announced Friday in an apparent concession to the increasing number of jurisdictions pushing back against its Secure Communities program.

Immigrant advocates as well as some police chiefs and sheriffs have complained that detention orders under the program were being issued indiscriminately, snaring people who were driving without a license or selling tamales on private property.

“In order to further enhance our ability to focus enforcement efforts on serious offenders, we are changing who ICE will issue detainers against,” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton said in a statement. “We are constantly looking for ways to ensure that we are doing everything we can to utilize our resources in a way that maximizes public safety.”